The Inkcarceration Music and Tattoo Festival takes place at the Mansfield Reformatory, offering great bands, plenty of food and drink, vendors and more.
2023 DATE: July 14-16, 2023
Location: The Ohio State Reformatory
100 Reformatory Rd
Mansfield, OH 44905
Website: https://www.facebook.com/Inkcarcerationfestival
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This post documents my experience on July 14, 2018.
Out at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield…
…people were flocking out to the Inkcarceration Festival…
…where they socialized at the entrance bar…
…lounged on the sloped lawn…
…possibly caught a circus sideshow (Hellzapoppin)…
…and rocked with some pretty well-known bands (ie Bush, Our Lady Peace)…
…among two stages.
Just right of the entrance, vendors were lined up…
…or under a tent…
…offering everything from awesome art (Chris Hamer)…
…to veteran owned whiskey (Freedom Whiskey)…


…and plenty of locally made apparel (Acathla), band merch…
…hot sauce (Fred Hot)…


…drink (Phoenix Brewing Company/Sierra Nevada)…
…photogenic zombies (Blood Prison)…
…and motorcycles in-between (Pony Powersports).

And, in case you didn’t win a tattoo gift card from Michael Lybarger…
…there were alternative options in the form of airbrush tattoos…
…colorful body dipping (Infinite Creations)…
…some awesome face painting (Skull Dollz)…
…and even some Henna (at the other end of the festival grounds).
One cool feature of the festival’s location…
…was the possibility of freely exploring the reformatory…
…including the chapel…
…its cells…
…and the various rooms…
…that carried cinematic significance (Shawshank Trail).
This is also where festival fans followed signs to the Tattoo Experience…
…a celled room with 70 tattoo artists…
…and all the tattoo-related necessities (KingPin Tattoo Supply).
Festival goers came to either watch inked imagery take shape on others…
…or they got into the chair themselves.
Finally, the Food Truck City…


…offered two rows of food truck deliciousness…
…with offerings that included BBQ (Three Lil Piggies)…
…gourmet burgers (SWAT)…
…tacos and burritos (Holy Taco)…
…and large quantities of noodles (Island Noodles)…
…which really hit the spot.
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: I received a media pass to attend this event.
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